Home of You Can Brew It! instructional programming and the Midnight Brewing Company (my home brewery)

You Can Brew It!

If you are a craft beer enthusiast and have always wondered about home brewing, this site is for you! My name is Scott Pointon and though I am a librarian by day, my hobbies include woodworking, reading, travel, exploring gourmet food and craft beer opportunities, and of course home brewing!

In 2010 my wife, who is also a librarian, asked me to put together an instructional program on home brewing and offer it at her library. The program was a great success and it attracted many people to her library that may never have gone there otherwise (the very goal of library programs!). Since that time, the reputation of this program has spread by word of mouth throughout the many libraries in Chicagoland, and I now teach this introduction to home brewing several times each month. If you are interested in booking this program for your library / park district / senior center etc. you may contact me at spointon2002@yahoo.com. You can also see a list of places where I have been and where I will soon be offering the You Can Brew It! program.

The You Can Brew It! program is between 1.5 hours and 2 hours in length (depending on questions from the audience). It consists of a PowerPoint presentation and show-and-tell with the basic brewing equipment that attendees will need to brew their own beer. No actual brewing occurs during the program, and there is no alcohol present, so there are no worries about the safety or legalities of offering this program.

I cover the history of home brewing to give it some context, then discuss the styles of beer that can be brewed at home as well as the equipment, ingredients, and the basic steps of the brewing process. The You Can Brew It! program is also full of advice for would-be brew masters to find peer-to-peer help, resources, supplies, etc.

If you are interested in bringing this program to your organization, you will simply need to provide a computer/laptop that can run a PowerPoint presentation, a projector, and a couple standard meeting room tables on which I can display my brewing equipment.

My fee for this program is $150 plus mileage. I do not charge the IRS mileage rate, rather I calculate something closer to just what it will cost me for the gas to drive to and from your location. For more information please contact me via email.